


How to Impress Someone By Brewing Coffee

by Thwipster808



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28778130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thwipster808/pseuds/Thwipster808
Summary: Ask on Tumblr: “hi can u write one in which they both work at a coffee shop? can it end with the starting of solangelo”
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Jason Grace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 5
Kudos: 59





	How to Impress Someone By Brewing Coffee

“Nico, you’re training the new guy.”

Jason dropped that bomb on Nico the moment he walked through the back door of the cafe. At six in the morning. The _audacity_.

Nico only had the energy to blink back at his friend, his brain pretty much dead since he didn’t even put his stuff down yet, let alone make himself a cup of extra strong coffee. But, even with his slow processing speeds at this hour, he fully registered and resented what Jason just told him.

Apparently, his upset blinking got through to Jason, because he immediately put his hands up in a placating gesture. “Don’t shoot the messenger! Reyna told me to have you do it this time because—“

“Because she hates me,” Nico finished, brushing past the blonde to put his stuff in his cubby.

“ _No_ , because he wants to make coffee and you do it best! If he wanted to make sandwiches, then I’d train him.” Jason followed Nico as he spoke, his voice taking on a more logical tone.

“He’s new, shouldn’t he start with cleaning counters and washing dishes,” Nico stated in a flat voice.

“You know that’s not how it works here.” Nico could hear the eye roll without even looking at him.

“Whatever. Just do your opening tasks, I can’t deal with your voice at this time.” He didn’t usually open for the cafe, avoiding those shifts like the plague, but he had to take them every once in a while. He couldn’t bring himself to do a bad job either, especially since he knew the manager personally and Reyna would just give him more opening shifts to get back at him anyway. She’s merciless like that.

“You wound me,” Jason raised a hand to his chest in mock offense. “But seriously, you have to train him. He seems nice—“

“Yeah yeah,” he dismissed, walking down the short hallway to the front area. “When does he start?”

“Well—“ Jason started, but he cut himself off the moment Nico stepped out into the counter area. Because at that moment, a different blonde appeared, even brighter and happier than Jason at six in the morning. In Nico’s opinion, he seemed more energetic than anyone should be at six in the morning.

“Hi there!” The bouncy blonde replied, a wide smile splitting his face. “I’m Will! The new guy. I’m really excited to be working with you!” He was addressing Nico directly, presumably having met Jason already.

Nico wasn’t sure what his face, or general demeanor, looked like in that moment, but he was sure it wasn’t a good look. He was tired because, again, it was a little after six in the morning; disgruntled at having to train someone; thrown off since he didn’t know the new hire was here already; and he _still_ hadn’t had his coffee. Distantly, Nico may have registered that the boy in front of him was cute, objectively. However, while a cute boy may usually reduce him to a blushy, awkward mess, his brain simply wasn’t ready to process emotions.

So, he stared at the new guy for approximately five seconds after he spoke, probably looking like he hated his life. Then, he said, “Make me coffee, freckles,” because he was great at first impressions.

“Oh! Uh,” the new guy, Will, flushed instantly, which made his freckles stand out more. “I, um, don’t know how?”

Nico clicked his tongue, moving around the boy to get to the espresso machine. “Well, I guess you better learn by the time we open.” Nico glanced back over his shoulder at Jason, who had been silently observing the interaction. By his facial expression, it looked like he couldn’t decide if he was surprised or amused. “Jason, you do all the other opening things. I’m busy.”

Like a good friend, Jason simply rolled his eyes and sighed. Nico caught a glimpse of Jason saying something quietly to Will, but he couldn’t be bothered to care about that. If he didn’t have a steaming cup of his glorious bean juice in his hand soon, he was going to walk out of the cafe and never look back.

Yes, he got dramatic when he was tired and grumpy, what about it?

—

“Now, repeat the process and tell me what you’re doing as you go.”

Nico sipped his coffee as he watched Will nervously make a shot of espresso. If he got this on the first try, Nico was prepared to be smug about his teaching skills to Jason.

“Okay, so... pack in the coffee like this. Then lock it into place here.” Will tugged on the handle to make sure it was secure. He then placed two tiny espresso pitchers under the spouts before hitting the “two shots” button.

He held is hands out as he watched the machine work. “I think I did it?” he asked uncertainly.

Nico hid his smile behind his mug as he replied, “Looks like it.”

Will turned away from the espresso being poured out to beam at Nico, who quickly averted his eyes. As he slowly woke up more, his brain finally processed how cute the new guy was, which was a completely unhelpful observation when Nico already knew he’d be spending the whole shift with him. It’s like his brain wanted him to do something stupid around the cute blonde with a peppy attitude and bright smile.

Nico shook his head in an attempt to dislodge his train of thought while Will attended to his espresso shots.

“I did it!” The boy exclaimed, holding up the pitchers in victory. “You’re a pretty good teacher, Nico.”

Nico almost smiled, shifting it into a smirk at the last second. “Be sure to tell that to Jason. He would never believe me.”

He turned away to move on to the next task, missing the blush that spread across Will’s cheeks.

—

Nico taught him only a few more coffee things before the shop opened, though it was mostly pointing out where things were and what flavors they had available. Working with the espresso machine was the most complicated thing.

“Okay, Will, I know you wanted to make coffee, but for today, I’m going to have you work the register. We can practice more during the slow times.” Nico busied himself with cleaning up the counter and setting up his station.

He turned to find Will watching him, to which he raised an eyebrow. The blonde made an aborted noise of surprise, quickly blurting out an “okay!” His face turned slightly pink, but Nico decided not to say anything.

He cleared his throat and moved over to Will’s side, turning him around to face the front. “Have you worked a register before?” Will shook his head, so Nico continued. “It’s pretty simple. Just punch in the item here. The charge will show here. And then the cash drawer will pop out, but most people use card so just push it back in.”

Will’s eyebrows were drawn together in concentration, his eyes darting around the register as he committed it all to memory. Nico didn’t think it was endearing in the slightest.

“I think I got it,” Will said, looking over to Nico with a confident smile.

“Good,” Nico nodded. “Now, I’m guessing you have amazing customer service skills?”

Will blushed again as he rubbed his neck bashfully. “Um, I mean, maybe? I’ve never had a customer service job before.” He then tilted his head in confusion at Nico. “Why do you think I’d be good at it?”

Nico’s brain felt very slow in this moment, even with a cup of coffee in his system. He couldn’t admit to anything he was thinking about Will, but he didn’t want to be completely lame and just say it was a hunch. What if he actually needed the confidence boost? There was also this hopeful look in his soft blue eyes that Nico couldn’t help but give into, just a little.

“Uhh... you just... seem like a happy person?” He mentally facepalmed. “I mean—like, you’re easy to talk to, and stuff. So, you’d probably find it easy to talk with customers. And you’ve got the whole ‘embodiment of sunshine’ thing going on.” He gestured vaguely with his hands, generally avoiding eye contact with Will. “So, yeah,” he finished his ramble. He could feel his cheeks burning. Curse his body for being able to blush so easily.

When Nico peeked up at Will from behind his hair, he found the other boy grinning from ear to ear, a faint blush making his freckles practically glow. “‘Embodiment of sunshine’?” he echoed.

Nico bumped him with his hip to shove him away. “If it’s not on purpose, then that only further proves my point.”

Then Will laughed, a high and bright thing that somehow felt like it lifted the atmosphere up to the clouds and beyond. It was weird, because it was just a laugh from a boy he didn’t know at all. But he felt something starting, a spark, a warm glow, a _thing_ that he wanted to discover and hold on to.

So Nico got a little poetic when he thought about love in a coffee shop, what of it?


End file.
